Report: Many in Orange County lack basic needs

Tammy Philbin, left, sits with her 27-year-old disabled son, Robby. Philbin, a widow, has been her son's sole caregiver for more than 20 years, but recently she was diagnosed with Stage 4 uterine cancer and has no heath insurance. She was finally able to get her surgery and treatment through Share Our Selves. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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NEWPORT BEACH – The Orange County Community Foundation issued a report Thursday showing that residents of a county widely perceived as affluent also face huge challenges in basic needs, ranging from health care and housing to education and food.

The nonprofit, which helps direct money and other resources to service providers throughout Orange County, also announced a plan to make it easier for anybody to donate to specific local charities. By spring, the group's new website (ConnectOC.org), will provide the public with a searchable database of some 600 fully staffed local nonprofits.

"The whole point of ConnectOC is to motivate and inspire all residents to get involved in meeting the needs of their local communities," said Shelley Hoss, president of OCCF, which since its founding in 1989 has granted $225 million.

Those needs are detailed in the organization's overview of Orange County, a six-month effort that for the first time pulls together previously reported statistics from numerous public agencies and private organizations.

The group's findings, released to coincide with National Philanthropy Day, but first made public Wednesday night at the Newport Beach-based foundation's annual meeting, include:

•Nearly half of Orange County students live in families making the equivalent of $40,000 a year or less.

•A worker earning minimum wage would have to work 133 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment. (A separate report released this week by the California Association of Realtors concluded that just 1 in 3 Orange County households can afford to buy a median-priced, single-family home.)

"Some of these results were surprising, even to professionals like us who work in the philanthropy field," Hoss said.

There are more than 750 community foundations in the United States, and last year OCCF was the 10th most active grant maker, Hoss said.

Much work, however, needs to be done to close the gap between the county's most fortunate and those facing such challenges as eating regular meals or receiving even basic medical care, OCCF officials say.

"I don't think the general public knows the deep needs of Orange County, particularly in health care," said Mike Mussallem, chairman and chief executive of Edwards Lifesciences, which employs more than 2,500 in Orange County.

"Most people think of Orange County as a mecca of healthy, vibrant people, and will be surprised to learn from ConnectOC that half of our adults and a quarter of our teens are obese, or are approaching obesity, or that 1 in 3 residents do not have access to the health care they need."

Mussallem partners with OCCF for his philanthropic efforts and was involved in reviewing the report before it was published.

Tammy Philbin, left, sits with her 27-year-old disabled son, Robby. Philbin, a widow, has been her son's sole caregiver for more than 20 years, but recently she was diagnosed with Stage 4 uterine cancer and has no heath insurance. She was finally able to get her surgery and treatment through Share Our Selves. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Tammy Philbin, left, gives her 27-year-old son, Robby, a kiss. Robby is disabled and requires around-the-clock care. Philbin, who has been diagnosed with Stage 4 uterine cancer, refuses to put her son in a 24-hour care facility because she wants to spend whatever time she has left with her son, her only living relative. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Tammy Philbin, left, sits with her 27-year-old disabled son, Robby. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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